Word turns to Van Hook to change ailing tune – The Tennessean

Jim Van Hook, one of Christian music’s most successful entrepreneurs, has been tapped to turn around Word Entertainment. Van Hook signed a multi-year contract as chairman and chief executive officer of Word, which suffered a major blow two months ago when it lost key distribution client Integrity Music Group to Provident Music Group, a Christian division of Sony BMG. Van Hook, 63, built Franklin-based Provident Music Group into one of the Christian industry’s three largest record companies as its longtime chairman and CEO before retiring and moving to a job at Belmont University. BMG acquired Provident in late 2002. Van Hook went into retirement the following spring, then four months later he was named the first dean of Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. He will keep that position while heading up Word.